Should we support universities that recruit students with "strange" combinations?

Recently, some universities have suddenly announced that they will enroll students in engineering, natural sciences, and medicine using the C block combination (Literature - History - Geography) in addition to the traditional A and B blocks. In contrast, for the Literature major, some schools have announced that they will enroll students from the A block.

This announcement of enrollment has surprised many people, making them wonder about the quality of training at the schools.

Recruiting "strange" combinations is damaging the school's brand.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, Head of Training Department of Thuyloi University, said that this recruitment method is not suitable. Technical blocks, especially construction engineering technology, electricity, electronics, information technology... require students to have a solid foundation of knowledge in Mathematics, even Physics. Students taking the C block exam, if they are good at Mathematics, it is okay, but if they are weak, it will be very difficult to study engineering at university level.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, although admitted with block A, 1% of the university's engineering students are still given academic warnings every year because they do not meet the academic requirements. Universities that use the Literature - History - Geography combination to select engineering majors will have difficulty recruiting students because few block C candidates are confident enough to register.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Hoang Minh Son, Principal of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, any university that sets a low standard score or announces a strange combination of students that is different from the training major is also lowering the brand of the school and its training major.

Supportive but controlled

Besides the opposing opinions that schools that recruit students with combinations that do not match the major are "grabbing all the little things", trying to recruit students at all costs without paying attention to training quality and the rights of candidates, there are also teachers who express their support for the method of recruiting students with combinations that are different from the major.

Associate Professor Dr. Do Van Dung, Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, said that the Ministry of Education and Training has allowed many universities to be autonomous in recruiting students. This year, the Ministry also removed the regulation on minimum scores in university admissions.

In many countries around the world, high school graduates can be considered for admission to universities. However, universities are concerned with tightening the graduation process. This is also to manage the quality of student training, meeting social requirements.

Candidates need to carefully consider choosing a combination and major when applying to universities and colleges. Illustrative photo

For example, the American SAT exam to select students for university includes all questions testing knowledge of natural sciences, social sciences and foreign languages. If anyone achieves enough scores according to the requirements of each university, they will be admitted. During the course of study, if any student cannot keep up with the program set by the school, they will be "eliminated".

According to Associate Professor Dr. Do Van Dung, up to now, many people still think that university admission should follow the traditional groups of blocks A, B, C, D. If now, some schools come up with a new idea that admission based on a group of exam subjects that can be different from the major, we should support it.

In the 2017-2018 National High School Exam, nearly 860,000 candidates nationwide registered to take the exam. Illustrative photo

The reason why we should not refute the proposal of some schools is because reality has proven that students in many countries around the world, when entering university, do need to be selected according to traditional combinations like in Vietnam, but when they graduate, they still have the qualifications and skills to meet the recruitment needs of businesses and society. That is, they learn completely proactively, are creative, are equipped with knowledge, problem-solving skills, and work in groups.

Associate Professor Dr. Do Van Dung said that it is possible that schools that announce admission to strange subject combinations, different from the training majors, are having difficulties with having few students. However, students today are wise enough to choose subjects, schools, and careers so that when they graduate, they can find a job with the expected salary. Therefore, the number of candidates choosing subject combinations that are not suitable for the training majors at university is certainly not much.

Schools that recruit students from different majors as a way to attract students at all costs will find it difficult to survive in the long run. The important thing for a school to attract students is its reputation and training quality.

Expressing his opinion on the above issue, Associate Professor Dr. Bui Duc Trieu, Head of Training Department of National Economics University, said that according to the regulations, the selection of admission combinations is the autonomy of the schools, so it is also necessary to distinguish "block A, B, C" according to the old understanding with "Combination" according to current regulations.

If group C has Math, for example: C03 (Math, Literature, History), C04 (Math, Literature, Geography)... then choosing these groups is also acceptable for some majors that have a tradition of recruiting block A or C in the past.

Regarding the fact that some schools announced admissions for "strange" combinations of students different from their training majors, the Ministry of Education and Training has commented that it will check and request explanations. This is a necessary step for candidates to carefully consider when choosing combinations and training majors that are suitable for their abilities, as well as to limit schools that try to recruit students at all costs./.

Bich Lan